Wheel.



No. 852502. 1 PATENTED AUG. e, 1907. H. P. BROADHURST;

WHEEL.

A PPLIOATIMI FILED 11011.17. 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2..

PATENTES AUG. 6, 196?.

E. F. BRADEUBST.

WHEEL. APPLIOATIGH FILED mm1?. ma.

l SHEETS-SHEET 3 PATENTE-"D AUG. 6, i907.

Y E. E. BRGABHERST.

WHEEL APPLICATION FILED IT. 1'!l 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

j fl HERBERT FREDERCK li3ELADTUJRST, OF .lLOlQ'D'Ol(I ENGLANE.

Sie. 882,70'?.

Apprenti sled November 1v. me. sein so. sesso.'

To all whom it may con/:em: i r

Be it known that i, EERnnRr Fnnnnnrcx BROAD- HURSKT, deu-eject of theKing of Great Britain, residing et 7 Bztrnstsple Mansions, Roseberyavenue, London,' G., England, engineer, have invented certain new sindnsefnl Improvements in Wheels for Common Road- Vellicies, of which thefollowing is e specification.

The object of thisinvention is" to provide en irn- The distinguishingfeature of the invention is thel fact that the springs not in lllcesestzgngentiellye-nd never radially to the wheel asin the usnal'constrnct-ions of spring Wheel., ythat is'to say, the springs which sieconfined betweenradially extending guides provided on those portions oflthe wheel Whoserelzltive displacement the' springs are employed tooppose, are each ndspted on the one hand to slide so as to otter noresistence'to stresses ltrsmsrrritted (in the piene of 'the Wheel) in edirection parellel'to the respective guides: and .on

v the other hand to offer yieldingresistenee to stresses transmitted (inthe pleneo/the Wheel) in redirection not parallel` to theL respectiveguides. -H'ence' the' sp1- ings Whatever their actnal'formgfare never,Jaccording to.thepresentiriyention; subject to stresses such es -wouldbethrorvnluponsiA helical spring whose ends are attached to parts movingin` opposite direct-ions transversely to the exis ofthe spring. ,A v

According to the present invention the Wheel is Y composed oi three mainportions', whereotwo are integzn (or inrtuely integral) with the heb endrim of the -Wheel respectveiy, While v the third consists of the'springs, which vere interposed in pairs .between the other two portionsand serve to normally hold the 'rim 4portionconcentric with the axle andat the seme time transmit-rotary movement irl-either direction irjom thevhub to the rim of the Wheel or viceversa. The .rim

portion may be constituted eitheriby s single element displaceaole es'e.A Whole (in opposition to the springs) in e. plane perpendiou; ar tothe erde; or (in the o e. 'Wheel hsving'afbrozi'd tread) by a plureltyoisimilar lelements jnxtsposed side oy side alnd'vell adapted to contectwith the gronnd simultaneously, each element carrying 2t separate tireand esch being independently displaceehle a plane perpendicular to theardeihat portion of theiwheel integrel'with the huh comprisesa. peirof'leterel guides (in the vlform of Specication of Letters Patent.

l(for which seid guides constitu 'the displacement of the respec V"wheelmay beregerded es c Patentezr Aug-6, 190'?.

tionod) .is contreinedto move 1 axle; and sets of guides which eendicularly to the junction with corresponding guiiles on each elementof the rim portion of the Wheel sndwith' the springs ahutments), tolimit portion'lioth transversely to the 2de and angnlarlyin reletion tothe hub.

elements of the rim 'i plurality of independent-emmens es already men- In d radially (or epi proximeteiy radially) to thev exl and serve,irrconF The guides constitute enntfnents for the springs,

which make sliding Contact wi on the rim portion, or vvitlrth` se pn the'hub portion,

orlwith both., so that the are relieved of all torsional stress.

he respective guides in its most rudimentary toren the improved spring AY prising e set of radial arms carried by the hub; e di isposed in theplane of seid sans and apertured to accommodate the hub and theperiphery of the disk servingzto carry the tire;

cushion springs interposed between the arms and the lsounding walls othe aperture in vthe disk and adepted to permit the latter to siide tr uend also to turn kthroughv s small reltively to the heb, etres d etpdirof-cheek plates carried by the axle and serving to retain sind guidethe disk in the plane of the redis-l arms and also (if necessary) toprevent 'the escape oi the springs laterelly. When compounded (i. .e

vereelyjto the axle,

' f root themselves beingsubjected to torsional hevingits rim' portionconstituted by two or more @miler elements iuxtaposed side by side andindependently vdisplsceell'ile transversely to the erle) snch arudimentary form of the improvedspring vWheel/mayv have as many sets ofradial' arms and cushion springs as there are disks 'or annular elementscomprised in the rim portion, Y the arms of one set alternating,asregards angular position, with those of ,the-adjacent set or sets.Reference is to behed to the sccompsnying drawings wherein i' Figure iis e sit-te elevation-einher; may be termed the rudimentary form of ocompound spring wheel 'constructed Aaccording to the present invention,lthe nearer oi the Wheel. Fig. 3 is e. similar view to Fig.' L. s'hovvr-A l er slightly rnodied construction, end'Fig..-'i s 'e sectiononi'mejfi of Fig. 3. Fig.v 5 is a; side view of part of acompound springWheel'with the neerer'cheek plate removed, `drawn to' a. largerscaleandlshowing `a Y practical development of the invention, endFig.Gis e section online 66 of Fig. v5., Fig. '7 is enedgevlew of e compoundspring Wheel, illustrating its eet-ion when running or resting upon aroad'ha'v g l considerable degree or" camber. (i

paris throughout the raising/eLv 4 P Figs. l sind 2 show s. 'eompoundspring ros t Similar letters ofY referencel indicate*corresponding.-

' carrying a separate tire e1 c that 'the iormo the springs might beconsiderably varied; thus for example,

disk is retained by the adjacent cheek plates Bl ,'or B2 *torsionalstress in consequence -of relative movement ywhereof the rim-portioncomprises two similar ele-y lgnents each independently displaceabletransversely to i 'the axle.v Upon the hubA are fixed a pair o. cheekplates BL B2, and between them two similar sets C1102 ol armsWhich'extend vradially to the arde D. ln the example illustrated eachsetof radial arms consists of four members disposed at equifangul'arintervals about the axle, the arms of theo'ne sethi'secting the anglesmadc'by those of the other set. A i A Each of the two similar elementsE1`E2 of tlie rim-portion of the wheel .consists of a disk encircled byand or eand apertured `as indicated so as to accommodate the hub A andthe correspondingset of radial armsl or G2, in whose plane the on vtheone side and by the other disk the opposite side, so that eagh disk canonly move transversely to the axle, D.

y The, aperturcein each diskiEl, E2, while conformingirtgeneral configuratiorl-tdftflie'l nuo' anu aimsfis l suiiciently large not dlytopermit tnemecessary play o said disk in all directions in its ownplane,but also to admit 'springs l?, l", between the sides c, fr, c-` each armand the opposed portions epe, o f the bounding wall of` the aperture in,the disk. These springs fl", ywhich may be attached tothe arm` or (asshown) tothe disk, or may beree to slide relatively to both, are o'suchlo'rm as to act only as cushions between thev disk 'andarms withoutbeing subjected to 'between those parts, and for this purpose thesprings (may be simple segmentallycurved leaf springs (single orlaminated), the ends of the spring bearing upon the one partwhile thesurrmiit of the lcurve bears upon the other part as indicated, It willbe obvious however helical or spiral springs might be used, or cushionsof an elastic substance such asiubber. v J i i As it may happen that(with some forms oi springs) onlyl a small `part o f the length of eachradial .arm is actually utilized to form an 'abutment for the associatedsprings, while all thearms are virtually integral with the cheek plates,replaced by a block serving as a combined cross-brace and distance piecebetween the cheek plates B232, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. In suchcase, alternate blocks C3 and C4 serve as abutmcnts [or the springs l?"appertaining to the respective disks E1 E2, and those ol each set passthrough apertures g2 or gl in the disk to which they do not appertain,said apertures being sut'- A iently large to'allow of the necessary playofthe diskrelatively to the block. In the construction illustrated inFigs. 3 and 4, .that end oi each spring F* which is lnearest to thecenter is shown as attached to and capable oi turning about-'a cross-pinor bolt f which connects the cheek plates B1 B2 near the hub A, the

. opposite end oi the spring making sliding Contact with lbounds theaperture in i the approximately radial surface c1 oi the correspond-While the bow ofthe spring makes the opposed surface e which thecorresponding disk El or E2, lfhere are ,eight cross-pins f while twosprings, appertaining respectively to the disks El and E2, are attachedto each cross-pin. 1

ing block C3 or C, sliding contact` with approximately radial.

Aseacli spring it follows that each arm may be sesgos In'Figs. 5 and 6,which illustrate a practicaldevelopment of the arrangement shown inFigs. 3 and 4, the rim portion oi the wheel comprises four similar andindependent elements E E2 E3 E4 mounted side by side. Ol theselthe firstand *hird elements (counting from one face of thewhel-YE 13, aresupported by springs F2 which intheiacek view, Fig, 5, coincide with oneanother, wh ile the second andiourth elements E2 and E are similarlysupported by springs F3 which in the same view likewise coincide withone another. Each spring is two-armed, its middle being bent to form aneye rotatable about one of the cross-pins f1 while both of its arms f 2f3 extend "from the pin in a directionapproxilnately radial tothe wheel,the free end of thc one arm f 2- bearing against one of the radial facesc2 ci a block C5 or CG While the other arm f 3 takes a sliding bearing,as herearter described, against the corresponding element of the rimportion of the wheel.

Each cross-pin f l carries four springs, two as F2, for the elements E3and two,vas F3, for`the elements as-indicated in Fig. 6. Each element ElE2 E3 E2 Eithe springs Ffualternating-with the springs F3 and E4 of therim portion oil thevwheel consists ot a simple annular elly carrying ilon its outer periphery the corresponding tire e1 e2 e3 or` e4, andprovided on its inner side with brackets Gr1 or G2 which afford aslidingbearing for the arms j3 of the corresponding set of springs F2 or F3,e'ach of said brackets'being adapted, by means of apertures g3 or g4 0rotherwise, to clear the corresponding blck C or Ci of the set which donot appertain to the pzrticular element to which the bracket isattached.

arm f 3 may have a considerable sliding movement relatively to thebracket Grl or G2 against which it bears,'it is preferred to interposean anti-friction device between the br ket and spring. This device mayconsist, as shown, of a roller H carried by the bracket and having itsperiphery outstanding from the face e5 of the latter so as'to receivethe pressure of the spring, upon a` path g5 on the bracket approximatelyparallel to the radial face c2 of the corresponding block C5 or C. Inorder to retain the roller Il in position, it is preferably itted towork between a pair of sido plates .l .l integral with the bracket andhaving slots j inv which the roller gudgeons h are free to play.

lt is to be' clearlyl understood that in all wheels, whether simpleorcompound spring wheels, constructed according to the present invention,the springs (whatever their iorm or arrangement) operate onlytangentially and not radially to the wheel, this being the case whetherany particular spring happens ior thc time being to be bearing its sharein supporting the load, or in transmitting rotary motion between the huband rim portions, or in fulfilling both of these functions. That is tosay, each spring operates solely in a direction perpendicular to thatradius oi the' the roller being itted'to run' the number of elementsconstituting the rim portion -of a compound'ispring Wheel constructedaccording to this invention y belincreased indefinitely withinpractica-l limitsfetlier odd or even numbers of such elements being usedas may be found most convenient, and the arrangement of the variousparts and mode of attaching the springs being modied as may be nec`essary. On -tlie other hand, by suppressing all but a single element ofthe rim portion, a Wheel constructed according to thisinvention, willconstitute asimple (i. e. a nonconrpound) spring wheel capable o beingemployed for any purpose Wliicha spring Wheel is adapted to serve.

It is` to be clearly understood, in the case of a coin- '.pound Wheel,that no part oi the Wheel which is not displaceable transversely tot-heaxle, and spring-held normally concentric therewithv is at any. time incontact With the roadway. Hence, While cach element El E2, etc.comprised in the rim portion of the wheel is thus displaceable, andconstantly in contact with the ground, the cheek plates B1 B2, or anyequivalent parts not'so d-isplaceable, are maintained constantly clearof the grounththis arrangement being essential to then/heelaccommodating itself to the camber of the roadway or other obliquity or'the surface over which the vehicle is passing.

Claims.

lA .l spring road wheel for vehicles, cons"ring in the combination of alrivm portionilisplaecalile transversely to the axle; a hub providedwith cheek plates adapted to contine such displacement 'of the riinportion to movement of said` portion in its own plane; guides integralwith the hub and rim portions respectively and extending .approximatelyradially to the wheel; and springs in compression interposed between theguides on the hub and rim portions and each adapted on the one hand toslide so as to oter no resistance to stresses transmitted in the planeof the wheel in a direction parallel to the respective guides, and onthe other hand to offer yielding resistance to stresses transmitted inthe plane of the wheel in a direction not parallel to the respectiveguides, substantially as described.

A compound spring road-wheel for vehicles,consisting in the combinationof a plurality of separate rim elements juxtaposed side by side andadapted to Contact with the ground simultaneously, each h/aving acircular periphery and being independently displaceable transversely tothe i axle: a hub provided with cheek plates adapted to confine thedisplacement of said rinrelements to movement each in its own plane,tlie outermost of said elements r/ef'pectirely making sliding Contactwith the adjacent/clieek plate; gnidcsintegral with the liub and witheach 'off/tha rinrelements respectively and extending approximatelyradailly lo the axle; and springs in cempression interposed between theguides on the hub and those on the respective rim elements and eachadapted en the oneliand to slide so as to ollfer ne resistance tostresses transmitted in the plane or' the wheel in a direction parallelto the respective guides, and on the 'other hand to oder yieldinprresistance to stresses transmitted in the 'plane of the wheel in a.direction not parallel to the respective guides, substantially as@ascribed HERBERT FREDERICK BROADHURST. Witnesses;

Il. D. Jameson', l F. L. RAND.

sof

